Hospital Boosting Gloucester Center

GLOUCESTER — Riverside Walter Reed Hospital is spending about $3 million to renovate and expand the Gloucester County facility, which includes adding about 10,000 square feet to the emergency room.

Hospital Administrator Skip Philips said Tuesday the work, which has begun and is expected to be completed by mid-1996, should not require an increase in any fees.

"We may even be able to lower some," Philips said.

He said site work has been started, including relocation of the heliport, and that actual construction is scheduled to begin in September.

Besides the emergency room addition, about 2,000 square feet of corridor will be created to allow staff and patients to bypass the main waiting room for access to the emergency room, operating room and radiology and intensive care areas. Another 3,000 square feet will be added to the area used for human resources staff and for storing medical records, he said.

Separate entrances for ambulance and walk-in patients will be provided, Philips said.